Silo



T DEAN. SILQ.

. APPLICATION FILED MAY 24, 1920. I 1,406,942, Patented Feb. 14, 1922.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

T. DEAN.

SILO.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24. 1920.

1,40 ,94 I Patented Feb.14,1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

SILO.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24. 1920. 1,406,942, Patented Feb. 14, 1922.-

v 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- ;:w

silo into the elevator.

UNITED, TSTATESTEPTATENTI OFFICE;

roLLInnEAN, or MAUoKro'n'r, INDIANA. I

To allrwhomz'tmay concerm 7 Be it known that I, TULLIE DEAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mauckport, in the countyof Harrison and Stateof Indiana, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Silos, of which the following is a specification. i

This. invention relates generally to an improvement in silos, and particularly to: a means whereby the ensilage may b6 taken from the silo at any particularunloading point, and delivered to the grounder surface line. V p

The invention contemplatesthe use or a silo having an upright well or chute, as usual, into which thedoorsofthe silo proper open at different points .inthe height cit-the silo, the said chute havingan outlet door at the bottom. Ordinarily in withdrawing a quantity of ensilage from the silo, the farmer climbs the interior of the chute to the proper door of the silo, and entering the silo, takes the desired vquantity therefrom and "allows it to drop throughthe chute, the ensilage accumulating in the. chute being taken out through the outlet openingthereof.,

The present invention contemplates an elevator operating in the chute through the use of weights which overbalance the weight of the elevator and operator, and are-in turn overbalanced by the ensilage delivered to the elevator. The elevator will thus move automatically in both directions, being controlled by a manually operated" brake. The elevator has doors openlng'to the, chute out- ,let, and automatically held opened when the elevator is at'the lowermost or discharging position, and automatically held closed in other positions of the elevator. A door is also provided in the elevator which may be arranged opposite any particular silo door to permit delivery ofthe ensilage from' the The invention is illustratediinithe accompanying drawings in which l p thesilo and chute Fig. 1 is a plan show ng p with the top of these parts and the'elevfator f omitted. f

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectionalview throuh the chute, showing more clearly the elevator and 'its parts..' V Fig. 4; is a broken fragmentarysectional view, showing more-clearly the relation'of the hinge section-to the siloin a working position.

: Specificationof Letters'rat ent; 1 'Patented Feb, 14', 1922, Application filed. Ma a, 1920., s imnoesama i ,5 is an enlarged detail illustrating the braking means.

.In theaccompanying drawings is shown a conventional silo 1, having a substantially rectangular well or chute2 connected to. the wall of the silo, thesilo doors 3 opening into thechute.

,An elevator. 4 is arranged to travel vertically within the chute 2, said elevator includlnga boar-like body having side walls 5,

the elevator in its vertical movement,

The elevator is operated by weights12 whichinay be disposedbeyond the walls of the chute. which weights are" connected by cables 13 to the elevator. The cables 13 each pass over spaced guide pulleys 14 mounted ina bracket 15 at the upper end of the chute. The bracket 15 is supported onbars 161forming terminals o'fbrace rods 17 which extend the weight of the elevator and the weight of the 'operatonso that if 'the elevator contains the operator alone, and is free to move the weights, so that when the elevator is loaded, and free to move, it'will'de'scend in the chute Thus the elevator will be caused across the silo proper and are secured in the walls thereof. The weightsl2 overbalance' the elevatorwill rise. Afsubstant'iahquane tity of ensilage however will overbalance to automatically ascend with the operator to the loading point,an d descend with the load tothe discharging point. Controlling cables -l8 and 19 are provided whereby the movement of the elevator is manually'governed.

.(Jable. 18 is connected at one terminal "to the .fioor of the elevator, while cable 19 is connected at one terminal to the bracket 15. The opposite jendsof these cables are wound inthe same direction about independent drums 20 and 21 res'pectively formed on a e a suitable bearings '23 hame in slots 24 formed in the. sides of. a frame25 secured to bars of the frame 25 and formed at 29 to cooperate with a. brake drum 30 se u ed'on sha ftl 22, theends of which shaft are mounted a shaft 22. The bearing slots 24 are of such length that when the shaft has been moved toward the upper end oi said slots the drum 30 will engage the block 28.' A manually operable member is arranged to cooperate with the brake. drum and force the latter into braking cooperation with the block 28. This brake controlling member is in the form of a lever 31 pivotally supported intermediate its ends atone end connected with the elevator by an extension spring 33. In advance of the pivot 32, which pivot may if desired be a rocking connection the brake lever 31 is shaped at 34 to conform to the shape of the brake drum, being extended forwardly from such section 34:, as at 35 to which a chain or other operating means 36 isconnected', said chain depending within the elevator, to be conveniently reached by the operator.

So long as the shaft 22'is locked by the brake, the controlling cables 18 and 19 will of course prevent movement of the elevator by the weights 12, but upon operation of the brake lever 31 to permit the drum 30 to drop from the block 28 the'braking action of the shaftis relieved, and'the elevator'will operate either under the influence of the weights 12 or under the influence of the loadin the elevator. v

The front wall 8 of the elevator is in the form of doors hinged to the side walls at 37. Springs 38 are connected to the side walls of the elevator and to the doors, so as to open the latter when free to act. The upper ends of the doors are connected to cables 39 guided over pulleys 40 on the elevator structure and dependbelow the elevator where they are connected to weights 41. When the elevator is in lowered position the weights 41 engage with thebottom of the chute or well, and the doors, relieved of the influence of the weights will automatically open under the influence of the springs 38.

As the elevator leaves the bottom of the V chute however, the weights 41 act to close the doors, the doors being thus held closed by the weights until the elevator returns to the bottom of the chute.

the elevator is provided with an upper lu ge i n 4,2 havin side plates 43 slid- The rear wall 7 of ing in guides 44 secure, to the side walls 5 of the elevator. The section 12wlj1en.opened engages the bottom of a doorway or opening in the silo, such section 12, with the sides 43, forming a chut down which material may be delivered from the silo ;.to the elevator. c r a If desired a bar 45 maybe provided to be arranged in brackets .46 secur d. to h walls of the chute 2 in such position that a the leva r rises. said her 45 will engage the cross bar 26 of the frame 25. This bar 45. may be arranged opposite any door way of the silo, and form a stop forthe elevato in an exactly correct position relative to said said. elevator, controlling ing the movement of movement of theelevator.

If the bar 45 is used the elevator will stop when engaging the same, orif such bar be not used the 0 erator can control the elevator through tlie brake lever 31, to stop the elevator at the desired point. The chute sec- 42 is hen opened, the free end of said chute bein formed to accurately fit in the doorway 'o the silo, as at47 if desired, The operator will then load the elevator from the silo, and on again operating the brake lever 31, the elevatorwill descend to the'discharge opening from the chute 2, at which point the doors 8 of the elevator will automatically open for the removal of the contents of the elevator.

It is to be noted that thebottomfof the doors 8 do not reach to the bottonr'of the elevator, and have leather extensions-5O which overlie and extend slightly below the bottom of the elevator, to seal t e'juncture against the leakage of the ensilage. cable 18, within the elevator passes through a pipe 51 secured in position in the elevator and preferably tapering on its lower end. This will prevent the cable from contact with the ensilage. ,A step 52 is arranged "on the inside of the elevator atthe rear portion, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. This will assist the operator in reaching the opening in the silo proper. i

The bottom of the elevator is preferably inclined downwardly from the] rear toward the front, to facilitate the disch'arge of the ensilage when desired.

' Vhat I claim is:

The

l. The combination with a silo having a chute, of an elevator mounted forsliding movement'in the chute, weights for raising cables for. governing themovem nt of the elevator, a shaft, mounted in movable bearings about which said controlling cables-are wound, and braking mechanism including a manually. operable element whereby the shaft through its movable bearings is braln p fi position. I c

2. elcombmation with .arsilolhavi a chute, of an elevator mounted for s d g movement in the Chute, weights for raising mounted in movable bearings about which actuated to and from said elevator, controlling cables for govern the elevator, ashaft said controllin cables are wound, a brake drum on the s aft a fixed brake block to cooperate with said drum, and a manually operable lever whereby the shaft is regulated to govern the braking cooperation between the drum and brake block.

3. The combination with a silo having a chute of an elevaltor mounted for sliding movement in the chute, cables for raising the elevator, guide rollers for the cables, weights connected to the cables to overbalance the weight of the elevator, a shaft carried by the elevator, controlling cables wound in opposite directions about the shaft, one of said cables being connected to the elevator and the other of said cables being connected to a fixture above the elevator, and means for controlling the movement of the shaft.

l. The combination with a silo having a chute of an elevator mounted for sliding movement in the chute, cables for raising the elevator, guide rollers for the cables, weights connected to the cables to overbalance the weight of the elevator, a shaft arranged for limited play and carried by the elevator, controlling cables wound in op osite directions about the shaft, one of said cables be ing connected to the elevator and the other of said cables being connected to a fixture above the elevator and means to shift the shaft in its limited play movement to control the movement of the shaft.

5. The combination with a silo having a chute of an elevator mounted for sliding movement in the chute, cables for raising the elevator, guide rollers for the cables, weights connected to the cables to overbalance the weight of the elevator, a shaft carried by the elevator, controlling cables wound in opposite directions about the shaft, one of said cables being connected to the elevator and the other of said cables being connected to a fixture above the elevator, a fixed braking element arranged adjacent the shaft, and a manuallyoperable member to bodily shift the shaft through its limited play to and from cooperation with the braking element.

6. The combination with a silo, having a chute ofan elevator operative in said chute, a frame member secured to the elevator and providing a cross bar above said elevator, weight operated means for raising the elevator, a shaft mounted in said frame and having a limited vertical play therein, oppositely wound cables arranged on the shaft, one of said cables being connected to the elevator and the other of said cables connected to a fixture above the elevator, a fixed brake block carried by said frame, and means whereby the shaft may be operated in its mounting frame to and from cooperation with the brake block.

7. The combination with a silo, having a chute of an elevator operative in said chute, a frame member secured to the elevator and providing a cross bar above said elevator, weight operated means for raising the elevator, a shaft mounted in said frame and having a limited vertical pla therein, oppositely wound cables arrange on the shaft, one of said cables being connected to the elevator and the other of said cables connected to a fixture above the elevator, a fixed brake block carried by said frame, a lever adapted to cooperate with the shaft to move the shaft into cooperation with the brake block, and a spring or normally holding said lever in shaft braking position.

8. The combination with a silo, having a chute of an elevator operative in said chute, a frame member secured to the elevator and providing a cross bar above said elevator, weight operated means for raising the elevator, a shaft mounted in said frame and having a limited vertical play therein, oppositely wound cables arranged on the shaft, one of said cables being connected to the eleyator and the other of said cables connected to a fixture above the elevator, a fixed brake block carried by said frame, a lever adapted to cooperate with the shaft to move the shaft into cooperation with the brake block, a spring for normally holding said lever in shaft braking position, and means for manually operating the lever against the influence of its spring.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

TULLIE DEAN. 

